Chapter 10: Dragon Notes from Ender's Game

Ender's Game Chapter 10: Dragon

A new army is commissioned for Ender - Dragon. Ender is the youngest commander in history. The entire group consists of Launchies and rejects (those on the trading block) from other armies. In addition, Graff tells Ender that he may not practice with his extra practice group, and he can't have any trades. His army is his. " 'What if I've got a soldier I just can't get along with?' 'Get along with him.' Graff closed his eyes." Chapter 10, pg 157

Ender starts his army off on a new foot. Up until this time, all armies bunked veterans near the front of the room, and new soldiers at the back. He wanted the reverse order. His veterans had, at most, little more than a year of experience. He took command quickly and naturally, and expected promptness. They were to be extremely regimented.

At the battleroom, he saw how inexperienced his soldiers were. His first order of business was reorienting the students so that they would always think of the enemy's gate as down. When he orders students to the north wall, only Bean seems comfortable with it. Ender repeatedly challenges Bean, and Bean remains calm, almost surly. Ender settles into the first practice, trying to teach the soldiers, many of which are green, to maneuver.

After practice, Bean and Ender have a confrontation. Bean demands a toon. Ender is skeptical about Bean's ability to lead it. He then treats Bean in a way that both Bean and Ender realize is similar to the way Bonzo treated Ender in Salamander Army. Ender realizes, later on, that Bonzo wasn't the first person to isolate and pick on Ender the way that Ender picked on Bean. "It was the teachers who had done it... It was a strategy. Graff had deliberately set him up to be separate from the other boys, made it impossible for him to be close to them." Chapter 10, pg 167

Other armies are now holding extra practices because the best-ever student at Battle School is a commander, and they want to be ready. He meets Alai, and realizes a rift between the two of them, a further confirmation of the teacher-imposed isolation. Alai is now an enemy in the game, and a stranger outside of it. This angers Ender. "And with that anger, he decided he was strong enough to defeat them-the teachers, his enemies." Chapter 10, pg 172